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Audit Objective

Determine whether Town of Varick (Town) officials effectively managed the water and sewer districts’ financial operations.

Key Findings

Town officials did not effectively manage most aspects of the water and sewer districts’ financial operations. Officials did not:

• Adopt realistic budgets over the last three years.
• Adopt fund balance and reserve policies, formal multiyear financial and capital plans or written billing and collection policies and procedures.
• Ensure customers were uniformly and accurately billed or that operating and administrative costs were equitably allocated among property owners.
• Establish adequate intermunicipal agreements and vendor contracts.

Key Recommendations

• Develop and adopt realistic budgets, fund balance and reserve policies and long-term financial and capital plans.
• Negotiate adequate written intermunicipal agreements and vendor contracts.
• Develop a fair and equitable method for allocating costs among the districts.
• Develop and adopt comprehensive billing and collection policies and procedures and ensure customers are correctly billed.

Town officials generally disagreed with our findings. Appendix B includes our comments to issues raised in the Town’s response.